


A little pat-pat

by ficwriter103



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M, barry being a cinnamon roll, inappropriate butt touching, shameless fluff, that becomes appropriate later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-06
Updated: 2016-04-06
Packaged: 2018-05-31 15:13:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6475303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ficwriter103/pseuds/ficwriter103
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's only so many times you can save a guy before you accidentally touch something you're not supposed to touch then feel super guilty about it and then apologize to him only to find… he doesn't really mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A little pat-pat

With the increase in metahumans, there was an increase in crime. With the increase in crime, there was an increase in calls. With the increase in the number of calls, there was an increase in the risk that one of those calls would turn dangerous.

So it really wasn't surprising that Joe got called more and more often to dangerous scenes. Since Joe was practically Barry's second father, it shouldn't be that surprising that Barry would take every chance to drop by and make sure his second dad was okay. And since Eddie was Joe's partner as well as Iris's ex-boyfriend-now-good-friend, it made sense to make sure he was okay too. So it definitely made sense if Barry made the effort to make sure Joe - and Eddie - were always out of harm's way.

Or at least, this was the explanation he gave to Cisco and Caitlin when they pointed out that he had wasted a precious few seconds to deposit Eddie in the squad car instead of apprehending the meta human who could apparently detonate the air.

"Barry, the beam would have hit the ground four feet away from him," Cisco said, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

Okay, Barry admitted, it sounded much better in his head. It made more sense in his head.

"I reacted, okay?" Barry sulked. It wasn't his fault that seeing the beam come down made him panic. Eddie was standing so close to the building that if it hadn't been that beam, it might have been another one!

Caitlin just rolled her eyes as he protested with that logic. 

"Yeah, like the other" she briefly consulted her laptop "36 times you grabbed him you had similar excuses."

"Did you at least touch his butt though?" Cisco asked, dusting some debris off the suit. 

Barry choked on his energy bar.

"What? No! I wouldn't!" he protested vehemently after Caitlin thumped him on the back "Why would I touch his butt?!?"

"You touch him all the time, might as well, you know." Caitlin shrugged. "It is a very nice butt."

"What? You looked at his butt?" Barry was aghast. Since when were his friends perverts?

"Oh please, did you see those pants at the veterans benefit? Everyone looked at his butt!" Caitlin shot back. Cisco pulled up several data tables on his tablet, waving them under Barry's nose.

"I graphed it. According to his weight, overall fitness and musculature, I'd say it is about 89.14 percent pertness." 

Barry slammed his face to the desk as Caitlin peered at the data.

"No, you need to account for the sag of his pants, so it should be 90.33 percent pertness. That's a pretty good butt right there, you should give it a little pat-pat next time." Caitlin and Cisco grinned at Barry over the tablet, making tiny petting motions.

"I'm leaving," Barry said, throwing his hands up. It was official, his friends had officially gone mad.

 

\----

Was madness contagious? Barry bet it was, because he was pretty sure he had gone mad as well. The only things on his mind for the rest of the day were the words ' give it a little pat-pat' and the image of Eddie in his custom-made suit at the benefit. 

He just kept seeing Cisco and Caitlin miming little petting motions. 

Which was why two days later, after Barry swiped Eddie out of a four storey fall and set him on the ground, he touched Eddie's butt.

It was probably too fast for Eddie to realize, all caught up in the adrenaline rush and the terror of being blown out of a building. But Barry had, indeed, given Eddie's butt a little pat-pat.

"Thank you, thank you," Eddie rasped, sinking to the ground where he touched the asphalt in an almost reverent manner.

Barry couldn't do much but gawp at him for a second, unable to believe what he himself had just done. 

"I uh -" Barry said intelligently. It really was very pert.

"Thanks for the assist." Eddie was sheet white, probably in shock from getting shot at, losing blood, then being blasted out of a window. Barry probably should have waited for the medics to come, give the man a blanket, make sure he was gonna be okay, then leave.

It had a very nice spring to it.

Barry gulped.

"I uh- gotta - um."

Barry didn't bother to finish his sentence, zipping off as quickly as he came.

\---

 

It was all Cisco's and Caitlin's fault. He told them loudly after he got back to the lab. 

"If you hadn't told me to 'pat-pat' him, I wouldn't have done it!" He accused. 

"Actually," Mr. Wells interjected, gliding in on his wheelchair "I had calculated that you would cave to desire eventually, most likely within the year. I'm pleased to see my calculations were not wrong."

"And how did you know that?" Barry challenged weakly. Caitlin held up her tablet. 

"With all the data we have on you, it's not that difficult to know what a increase in heartbeat, breathing, and dilated pupils meant. "

She handed over the tablet and hit play.

"Oh wow," Barry said, wishing he could just head-desk and be done with it. It was a folder full of his interactions with Eddie. Photographs, short videos where Barry was leaning close to Eddie, or Eddie was saved by The Flash. Even Barry had to admit, he was always standing a little too close.

"Your hands are always 2.3 inches closer to inappropriate touching than they usually are on other people," Cisco pointed out "That one's a good 3 inches closer."

The video in question was one where Barry had lost his grip for a moment and his hands had slid lower than usual. And he hadn't moved them immediately. Eddie hadn't mentioned anything about it, probably because he had been trying to shoot at the gunmen who were trying to blow up the car.

In any case, the point was that he had touched someone inappropriately. Eddie hadn't known what was going on, but Barry didn't have the right. Ugh he was such an ass, taking advantage of his super speed to grope people!

"Well it was just a pat-pat." Caitlin shrugged, turning back to her work.

"That doesn't make it any more appropriate!" Barry protested.

"If you feel that bad, just go apologize!" Cisco closed all the 'evidence' and pulled up the tracking info they had on Joe and Eddie.

"Here, he's heading back home right now."

```

That was how the Flash came to be standing outside Eddie's apartment at 1 am, trying to psyche himself up to talk to the guy he groped earlier in the day. 

Just as Barry finally screwed up enough courage to go knock on the door, it opened to show Eddie, dressed in just a thin undershirt and boxers. The older man yawned as he descended the steps, then finally noticed that Barry was there.

"What are you doing here?" Eddie asked in surprise. He hurriedly dumped the bag of trash outside before coming to stand before Barry.

"Is something wrong? Should I call for backup?" Eddie asked. 

"Wait, what? No! No back up, um," Barry stammered, trying to look everywhere but Eddie's fit chest, which was nicely outlined in shadows and the thin light of the moon. 

Eddie relaxed a little, but his eyebrows drew together in a little frown. Barry had to remind himself that he was here to deliver an apology and not continue to ogle his crush.

"I um - wantedtosaysorrybecauseitouchedyourbuttearlierandididn'tmeanto"

"Wha-"

"-anditotallygetitifyouhatememorenowimsosorryitwon'thappenagainiswear"

There was a beat of silence where Eddie's eyebrows steadily went higher and higher.

"Did I hear you say you touched … my… butt?"

"… yes."

"And when was this?"

"… earlier?"

"I think I would have felt a butt-grab." Eddie looked more amused than anything.

"It was kinda a pat-pat," Barry admitted sheepishly, trying not to look at Eddie's face.

"And it was such a big deal you had to come and say you're sorry at one am?" Eddie asked.

Okay when he put it that way, it definitely did sound more ridiculous than when Barry went over it in his head. 

"It was inappropriate," Barry offered hesitantly "And I don't want you to dislike me any more than you already do."

Eddie threw back his head and laughed. 

"First of all, as a police academy graduate, a pat-pat is not the most inappropriate thing that has happened to me," Eddie said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "Second of all," he said as he straightened and took a step closer to Barry.

"What makes you think I dislike you?" 

Barry swallowed hard.

"I mean the taskforce and all and everything."

"You do know that the taskforce is pretty much for show right now, don't you? Most of the officers think you're a good thing," Eddie said as he took a few more steps forward.

Shit, Eddie was getting really close and Barry could smell that he had showered not too long ago.

"Besides, with the number of times you saved my ass, I think you're entitled to quite a few pat-pats." Eddie was smiling really widely.

"Uh, really?!" Barry squeaked.

"Why don't you claim one right now?" Eddie offered, with a cheeky grin. 

Barry squeaked again as Eddie reached out and took his hands, pulling them to rest firmly on Eddie's butt.

The thin fabric of Eddie's boxers didn't do anything to hide the definition in those glutes. Eddie spent a lot of time chasing criminals, walking around, working out, and it definitely showed. Unlike Barry, his muscle tone was purely because of his hard work and dedication, not some freak lightning and meta human powers. Firm, tight, flutes, with just the right amount of fat cushioning it so that it wasn't rock hard, but just squishable with the perfect bounce to it.

"You alright?" Eddie's concerned voice broke Barry out of his reverie.

Barry squeaked again. 

It was funny how he could face down all sorts of villains but when he had two handfuls of firm butt, he was reduced to nothing more than a squeaking lab rat.

"Uh-yes um, they are very nice, um,"

Aaaaand he was still holding onto them. 

Barry tried to jerk away but found himself trapped by Eddie's arms.

"Hey, tell me if I'm reading this right, but you like me, don't you?"

"What? How did you know?"

"The boys at the precinct clued me in," Eddie admitted "It is kind of obvious."

Barry wanted to face palm, but his hands were still on those firm buns so he settled for thunking his forehead against Eddie's solid chest.

"Can someone die of embarrassment?" he moaned into Eddie's undershirt. 

"It all works out, doesn't it?" Eddie asked, sounding quite amused "Since you like me and I like you?"

Barry's head snapped up so fast that he might have cracked something.

"What?"

"I like you too."

"… oh"

"I'm going to kiss you now, if that's okay."

Barry nodded mutely.

Eddie leaned forward and connected their mouths, tilting his head for better access. Barry made a tiny noise of surprised euphoria. He hadn't kissed anyone in ages. And he had never kissed someone who was so much more experienced than him. 

Eddie drew away for a moment, brown eyes molten in the moonlight, then kissed Barry again. Tender, slow, and deep, Barry melted into it. 

They finally broke apart to breathe. Barry couldn't help but stare at up at Eddie, stunned by the unexpected turn of events.

"You should go home and get some rest," Eddie advised him, eyes looking at Barry with a gentleness Barry rarely saw. "It's going to be 2 am soon. You and I have another long day of helping people ahead."

As much as Barry wanted to say 'fuck it' and try to weasel his way into Eddie's bed as well, the older man has a point. 

"Yeah, I'll go do that," Barry said reluctantly, still breathless from the kiss.

"Alright then, goodnight." 

With a soft peck on the forehead, Eddie had stepped away and was heading back into his house. 

Barry stood there in shocked silence for a bit, the phantom sensation of large hands giving his butt a firm squeeze lingered.

Eddie threw a wink at Barry before closing the door.


End file.
